Court upholds San Francisco law on rental housing buyouts

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has upheld a San Francisco law that regulates the ability of landlords to pay tenants to vacate their apartments.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday the law does not violate landlords' free speech, privacy, equal protection or due process rights.

San Francisco supervisors passed the law in 2014 over concerns that landlords were pressuring tenants to accept buyouts to get around rent control restrictions and lease the housing for much more money.

Rental prices in San Francisco have skyrocketed.

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The law requires landlords to inform tenants of their rights in a buyout. It also allows tenants to back out of a buyout deal within 45 days.

An email to an attorney for landlord groups that challenged the law was not immediately returned.

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